Certain oven appliances include a cabinet that defines a cooking chamber for receipt of food articles for cooking. A heating element provides heat for cooking the food articles within the cooking chamber. The cabinet also defines an opening for accessing the cooking chamber. Certain oven appliances can also include a pair of doors rotatably mounted to the cabinet adjacent the opening and configured for permitting selective access to the cooking chamber through the opening. Oven appliances having such a pair of doors are generally referred to as French door style oven appliances.
During certain oven cycles, e.g., a cleaning cycle, preferably access to an oven's cooking chamber is restricted. During such oven cycles, the cooking chamber can reach high temperatures. In order to minimize the risk of potential injury, the oven's door(s) are locked in a closed configuration such that a user cannot access the cooking chamber.
Certain French door style oven appliances have a linkage assembly for transferring the motion of one oven door to the other oven door. Thus, a user can open and/or close both of the doors by urging one of the doors open and/or closed respectively. To secure both doors in a closed configuration, certain French door oven appliances secure one of the doors in a closed configuration, e.g., using a latch. With one of the doors secured, the linkage assembly prevents the other door from opening. However, relying upon the linkage assembly to secure both of the doors in the closed configuration can be problematic. For example, a user attempting to open a locked door can place a great amount of stress upon the linkage assembly. Also, the linkage assembly can have an amount of slack that permits the doors to open at least partially and/or slightly in the closed configuration. Accordingly, an oven appliance with features for securing the oven appliance's doors in a closed configuration without relying upon the appliance's linkage assembly would be useful.
In addition, certain French door style oven appliances have a pair of latches. Each of latches is configured for securing a particular one of the pair of doors. However, using a pair of latches to secure an oven's doors in a closed configuration can also be problematic. For example, using a pair of latches can add to the cost and/or complexity of the oven appliance. Additionally, both of the latches must be activated in order to secure both of the oven's doors in the closed configuration. Accordingly, an oven appliance with features for securing the oven appliance's doors in a closed configuration without using a pair of latches would be useful.